Story+1988-03-16+Chicago,+IL

´´Getting any springtime in Chicago here yet ? (cheers)....weather gets nice, I like to take a walk in the park, you know....hey, hey, man, hey, how you doing ? good to see you....how you been ? ain´t seen you in a little while....couple of years or so, you know....you´re looking good, you look like you lost weight....not even too much of that home cooking, you´re not overdoing it, you know, what´ve you been up to ?....oh yeah, oh-oh, here come the baby pictures....oh yeah, got a little Big Man running around out there (chuckles)....how old is he ? ....3 years old, he´s got a little saxophone....drives own car too already....he´s almost as big as me already (chuckles)....a lot of little babies running around....in about 10 or 15 years, there´s gonna be another little E Street Band out there....man, I remember we used to sit on this bench in 1975....there was this big office building on the corner....and right after work, all the girls´d come out and walk past right down this street here...me and Clarence, we´d be here every day and we´d bring a little sandwich, peanutbutter-and-jelly, we´d bring a couple of beers, you know, we´d sit here.....it´s almost time....almost time now, bet you they´ll be coming....look, here she comes, the one, uh, in the blue business suit, in the, the one in blue ....oh-oh ! (chuckles)....can´t do that now (chuckles)....man, I remember I was with you, I was with you the night you met your wife....we were overseas and Clarence came running into my room, he said ´Bruce, Bruce, I met the girl I´m gonna marry, I´m in love´...but he used to say that about every girl that he met (chuckles)....he used to mean it too, he wasn´t being insincere, it was just, had a big heart, you know (chuckles)....but, man, that´s nice.... time passes (chuckles)....you meant it that night, though, you did.... remember what it´s like the first time, uh....somebody comes walking in the room that you´re interested in, you´re fixing your hair and you´re trying to look good - yeah, thanks.....feels kind of....back in New Jersey, it feels kind of like this....come on....oh yeah, so sweet....it´s almost dinnertime, I gotta be home now, you know, I can´t be late, can´t be hanging out all day anymore....and then, you wouldn´t believe it, I gotta be in bed by 11 o´clock, that´s when she goes to bed .... I´ll see you little later....”
 * 16.03.88 Chicago, Ill., intro to ´All That Heaven Will Allow´**

‘‘How you doing out there tonight ? (cheers)....how you guys doing ? (cheers)....that´s good ....it’s nice to see you again, we’ve missed you....right before....right before we go out on the road.....me and the band, we always have this one little ritual....we kinda end up sitting around someplace at dinner or after rehearsal....and we start telling stories, like from the early days, you know....now, I get to tell ‘em.....I’ve told ‘em about a 1000 times....they always act like....you know, it’s the first time again....they always let me get away with it ....but there’s something about us sitting around and telling those stories that seems to bring us together and.....after we haven’t seen each other for a while....they pull us a little closer ....and the past, the past does that....at its best, our past binds us together ....in some shared experience and shared history....but then there’s also....a part of the past that....holds you down and draws you back....makes you afraid of changing, afraid of going forward...into that....tomorrow....this song, this next song is a song I wrote about a woman....struggling against....that part of her past that wants to hold her back...struggling against old dreams.... old dreams that just wanna break her heart....over and over and over again....she’s fighting to understand the importance....of her own individual existence.... importance of the life of her child.....it seems like no matter where we go, the value....the value of our own lives is something that....slips in and out on us....I know it does for me ....so this is a song about a woman....fighting that fight....”
 * 16.03.88 Chicago, Ill., intro to ‘Spare Parts’**

´´Alright....here´s a shopping song....very American....window-shopping, that is, window-shopping....when I come into town, I like to....go out shopping and pick up some souvenirs of my travels....little keepsakes....little memorabilia to keep by my bedside at night....you got that Homeshopping Network out here ? (cheers)...I hate that damn thing....”
 * 16.03.88 Chicago, Ill., intro to ´You Can Look´**

´´Are you with me tonight ? (cheers)....let me see your hands then....are you with me tonight? (cheers)....now, I´ve got a question I wanna ask you....are there any brave men out in the audience tonight ? (cheers)....are there any macho men out there tonight ? (cheers)... any tough Chicago men out there ? (cheers)....because I´ve seen men that would swim rivers.... they´d climb mountains....they´d wrestle with a grizzly bear....but there was one thing they was afraid of....there was one thing that scared ´em to death....and I´m gonna tell you what that was....you wanna know what that was ? (cheers)....that was L....U...V...love, that´s what I´m talking about....love scared ´em to death, made ´em run home to their mamas like little babies....now, girls, are you out there ? (cheers)....are there any brave women out there tonight ? (cheers)....´cause I´m talking to you too, girls....I´ve seen women that would canoe down the Amazon wrestling off alligators, crocodiles....I´ve seen women so brave that they´d date the horn section in this band.....but there was one thing they was afraid of....and that one thing was love....when love got near ´em, they ran away, they got scared, they ran home, they said ´No, stop it´....but I´m down here tonight ´cause I´ve got a confession to make .... I gotta let my burden down....I´ve gotta get it off my shoulders because I have sinned ! do you hear me ?....that´s right and I don´t need no Pat Robertson to forgive me....Pat Robertson can kiss my ass....I don´t care who you bring down here, bring down Hulk Hogan, I´ll take him on, bring down the Road Warriors, bring down Andre the Giant, I´ll mess with ´em, bring down George the Animal Steele, I´ll take him on right here....´cause I ain´t afraid of those kinds of things....what I´ve got to testify to tonight is.....I´m not afraid of those kinds of men...but ....I´m a coward when it comes to love....”
 * 16.03.88 Chicago, Ill., intro to ´I´m a Coward´**

´´I was reading the newspapers the other day and....came across this story....”
 * 16.03.88 Chicago, Ill., intro to ´Part Man Part Monkey´**

´´Thanks, thank you....thank you....before we came out on the road this time....and before we even decided to come out on the road, I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to do and if I was gonna come out, what I wanted to say, what I wanted to talk to you about.... and uh....and we started rehearsal and we came up to this next song....this is a song I guess I wrote almost 15 years ago now....I was sitting on the end of my bed in Long Branch, New Jersey (chuckles)....and uh, I´ve sung this song a whole lot, I guess....I guess it´s uh....it´s a song that I wrote about a guy and a girl who wanted to run and never stop running....but as, as I got older and as we played it through the years....it sort of opened up and let the years in and I realised that it was a song about two people out there searching for whatever that thing that people call ´home´ is....and uh....I guess all the questions that I kind of asked myself in this song are questions that to this day I find myself still trying to answer, still out searching for ´em....trying to find some place....that I could call ´home´, I guess that´s what people spend most of their lives doing....and you sort of end up realising that it´s not out there, that it´s buried deep down in here somewhere.....so, anyway....uh, this song´s kept me pretty good company on my search, I hope it´s kept you good company on yours....I´d like to sing it and dedicate it to you tonight wishing you the best of luck.....”
 * 16.03.88 Chicago, Ill., intro to ´Born to Run´**

´´Thank you....just wanna take a second and thank everybody for coming down to the show ....and I...I´d like to do this for you and your baby....wishing you a safe trip through the tunnel of love....”
 * 16.03.88 Chicago, Ill., intro to ´Love Me Tender´**

´´Ready for a date ? (cheers)....´´
 * 16.03.88 Chicago, IL, intro to ´Tunnel of Love´**

´´When we were down in Texas....on our last tour of the States....there was a lot of folks down there from.....Pittsburg, from Ohio....Cleveland, the Northeast....who´d gone down there looking for jobs and work in the oil fields....and when the price of oil collapsed....they ended up sleeping in tents on the side of the highway....sleeping in their cars....with no work, no place to go....cops just telling ´em to move on.....they had no home.....this is called ´Seeds´....´´
 * 16.03.88 Chicago, IL, intro to ´Seeds´**

´´Well, have you ever felt lonely ? (cheers) I mean so lonely....like everybody´s been so lo-lo-lo-lonely....so lonely you wanna cry, cry, cry now....oh, cry, cry, cry....you start living inside your own head too much....that´s when you wanna reach out.....for a partner, somebody that makes you feel like a real human being....that´s what I wanna say....I wanna say hey, hey, baby....´´
 * 16.03.88 Chicago, IL, end of ´Dancing in the Dark´**

´´Move over, Rover, let Brucie take over....on the piano, Professor Roy Bittan.....on the drums, the Mighty Max Weinberg....on the guitar and vocals, Miss Patti Scialfa....on the guitar, the great Nils Lofgren.....on the bass, Mr. Garry W.Tallent....on the organ, Phantom Dan Federici....back on the horns, Eddie ´Kingfish´ Manion on the baritone, Richie La Bamba on the trombone, Mark ´The Love Man´ on the trumpet, Mike on the trumpet, Mario Cruz on the saxophone, the Horns of Love.....and last but not least.....I ain´t gonna beat around the bush....the handsomest man in the history of Western civilization....Clarence ´Big Man´ Clemons on the saxophone....´´
 * 16.03.88 Chicago, IL, middle of ´Light of Day´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//